The Faceless Executioner
by evgrrl09
Summary: 7 years later, the BAU returns to help the SVU catch a killer who targets gay men and their families. In addition to the case, JJ and Olivia struggle to find a child to adopt and rebuild their relationship with the BAU, and Penelope copes with the resurfacing trauma she endured during their last SVU case. JJ/Olivia and Morgan/Garcia. ***Sequel to The Violator***
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**I was asked by a few people to do a sequel to my Criminal Minds/Law and Order:SVU crossover I completed a little over a year ago. I've finally decided to do it, and I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**Note: This story takes place five years following to the events of the epilogue of **_**The Violator**_**. As a refresher, the epilogue included JJ and Olivia's wedding and Derek proposing to Penelope. If you haven't read the first one, there will be some things you may not know the reference to, so I highly suggest reading the first one if you haven't.**

_**Olivia**_

"I'm walking down the street now," Olivia said, a laugh escaping her lips as she walked down the New York City street toward the adoption agency she planned to meet her wife at.

JJ's response came out nervous, like she would be sweating buckets the moment Olivia laid eyes on her. Olivia knew exactly why. This agency would mark the fourth adoption agency the Benson-Jareau family went to in their attempt to find a child to adopt. No one seemed to think they would make a fit home for a child, despite their jobs as respected members of law enforcement.

"Honey, I want you to slow down, and breathe," Olivia soothed. "Who knows, maybe this one will be the one that turns our luck around." She rounded the last corner of the block. Her wife came into view, and Olivia kept going, her phone still to her ear. She smiled. JJ twirled her ponytail between her fingers, and though Olivia couldn't see her face, she knew her wife would be biting her lip. She always did when her nerves started to get the better of her.

"The universe seems to have it out for us," JJ grumbled as Olivia approached her from behind. "Three agencies have already told us we're 'too busy' to adopt a child. Hell, we have Henry, and he's completely well adjusted!"

Olivia sighed. This whole situation killed JJ. It hurt Olivia to see her that way, and she wished she could take away every ounce of pain her wife felt. She felt it too, but she would gladly take on anything extra to ease anything causing JJ to worry.

Stopping behind JJ, Olivia sighed a heavy sigh. "I know he is," she said.

Whirling around, JJ jumped, startled. When she saw it was Olivia, a relaxed smile graced her face. Taking her phone away from her ear, she placed her phone back in her purse. Leaning forward, she touched Olivia's cheek and kissed her gently.

"Hey," she murmured, taking Olivia's hand and giving it a squeeze. "You snuck up on me."

Olivia shrugged, holding JJ's hand right back. "Just trying to keep you on your toes," she teased. They started inside the lobby of the building and made their way to the elevator. When they got in the elevator car, Olivia glanced over at JJ and gave her hand another squeeze. She saw the raw nerves all over JJ's face, the anxious energy spreading like a disease. Putting her arm around her wife's waist, she pulled her into her arms and kissed her cheek.

JJ laughed. "What was that for?"

Olivia pushed JJ's ponytail off her shoulder. "It's for you to calm down," she said. "Things will go fine."

"We thought things would go fine at the other places, too," JJ muttered.

"Then we'll just go to another one if they don't like us either," Olivia countered. She smiled. "It'll be okay."

JJ remained quiet as the doors opened onto the level they needed to be off at. They walked off onto the floor where the adoption agency's offices were. Pushing through the doors of the Kuyper Children's Foundation, JJ and Olivia entered in front of the reception desk. A secretary sat behind the desk, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he looked up at them.

"Hello there!" he said, giving them both a smile. "How can I help you ladies today?"

Olivia spoke up. "We're supposed to be meeting with a Susan Long to talk about adoption possibilities," she said, still holding JJ's hand. "Could you let her know we're here?"

The secretary bobbed his head. "I'll give her a call," he said. "You two go have a seat over there, and Susan will come get you as soon as she's ready for you."

"Okay, thanks," JJ murmured as they went to sit down. As they sat, JJ's phone vibrated with a notification. Olivia glanced at her wife as she scrolled through the alert on her phone. When JJ's face noticeably paled and she rubbed her forehead in what looked like self-irritation.

Olivia frowned. "Everything okay?" she asked in concern. "You look like your just got a work text." JJ's schedule, while not as cross-country as it once was during her years in the BAU, still became hectic on a weekly basis.

JJ shook her head. "No," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "It's not that. We missed a date."

"What date?" Olivia asked, confused. She wasn't aware of anything going on that she didn't know about.

JJ shut her phone off and pocketed it once more. She glanced over at Olivia, exhaustion shining in her eyes. "I missed Logan's birthday yesterday," she said, softly. "_Again_." She shook her head and clenched her fist. "I can't believe I did that this year."

Olivia's mouth formed an _o._ The answer marked the third year in a row they forgot to call or send a birthday card to JJ's godson, Logan. When JJ called the year before to apologize for a belated birthday wish, Derek had been the one to answer the phone because Penelope wouldn't take the call.

It had been a long three years since JJ and Olivia had seen anyone in the BAU, and Penelope took the separation and lack of communication hard.

"Jayje," Olivia murmured, squeezing JJ's hand. "It'll be okay. You'll call, you'll talk to Logan, things will be fine."

JJ looked directly at her. "It's just…" Her voice trailed off. "It's all of this piling up at the same time. Work, not being able to find someone who will let us adopt, not seeing everyone at Quantico for the past few years. I mean, Penelope won't even talk to me!"

Olivia nodded in understanding, knowing that JJ's best friend's radio silence was hurting her. "I know," she murmured. "We'll figure out how to get this all to work out, though. Work, kids, getting back in touch with Penelope. All of it."

"Will we, though?" JJ asked, doubtful. "I just —"

"Susan will see you both now!" the secretary interrupted, calling to them from across the room.

JJ breathed heavily and rose to her feet, offering her hand to Olivia. Smiling up at her sadly, Olivia took JJ's hand and pecked her lips. "It'll be alright," she repeated, knowing that even though she said the words, JJ would still have a hard time hearing her.

"Let's just get this over with," JJ whispered, a sad tone to her voice as they started for the direction they were told.

_Please don't let a work call interrupt this_, Olivia thought to herself as they walked the hall to the social worker's office. _We need this to work before everything drives us into the ground_.

XXXXX

_**Derek**_

"Sleep tight, buddy," Derek said, leaning down to kiss his son's forehead as he tucked him into bed. "You gotta rest up for that first day of school tomorrow."

Logan grinned up with excitement at his father. His eyes drooped with sleep, but joy at school still shone in there. It was the typical excitement children displayed for their very first day of school, but Derek had no doubts in his mind that initial anticipation would disappear the moment the concept of homework got introduced to him.

"I'm so excited, Daddy!" Logan chirped.

Derek smiled. "I know you are," he said.

Logan frowned momentarily and looked up toward the door. "Where's Mama?" he asked.

"I'm right here, birthday boy," Penelope's voice said from the door to Logan's room.

Derek turned around and saw his wife coming in the doorway. A knife twisted in his heart at her face. Red, puffy skin surrounded her eyes, and dark circles rested beneath accompanied the swollen flesh. He knew precisely why she looked like this.

"Mama, it was my birthday _yesterday_," Logan corrected.

Penelope crossed the room with a smile, her hands resting on the bump of her stomach where their second child grew. She sat on the edge of their son's bed and moved a stray curl of his hair back from his forehead.

"Ready for dreamland?" she murmured. Logan grinned and nodded at Penelope and sat up to hug her. Tears welling up in her eyes, she wrapped her arms right back around him and held him tightly. "I love you."

"Love you, too, Mama," he yawned, laying back into his pillows.

Rising to her feet, Penelope started for the door, not waiting for Derek to follow. As they exited the room, he took one more look at his son before turning the lights off. He closed the door and looked around the hallway for his wife. She was nowhere to be found, and he sighed. Heading toward their bedroom, he pushed the door open and found her wrapping herself in a sweater.

"Baby?" he murmured, going to stand behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulder, wincing when her muscles tensed beneath his touch. "Baby, can we please talk about this more?"

"What is there to talk about?" she muttered, turning around to face him. Her eyes appeared dry now, but the puffiness was still there. "You think I'm crazy, it's that simple."

He shook his head and gritted his teeth. _Not this again_, he thought angrily. He made desperate attempts to show Penelope he didn't think she was going crazy, however he was losing patience with her insisting that he was saying it.

"I've _never _said that to you," he growled. "I do _not _think you are going crazy."

"Why else would you say I should go back to therapy?" she hissed, crossing her arms tighter over her chest.

He reached out and took her hands. His thumb traced the scar in the center of one of her hands where the Violator stabbed through her flesh seven years ago. She yanked her hand back, hiding them beneath the hands of her sweater sleeves.

Looking up at her with sadness, Derek shook his head and cupped one of her cheeks. "Penelope, I'm not calling you crazy at all," he urged her again. "But this PTSD recurrence isn't good for the baby or you. You're having nightmares _every _night."

"You think I don't know that?" she sniffled, wiping tears with her sleeve. "I'm the one having them!"

"I just want you to be healthy," he pleaded. "Hardly any sleep isn't healthy." He moved his hands to her belly. "I'm just worried about you."

For a moment, he thought his words might have made it through to her. Her eyes, shimmering with tears, stared back up at him. But in the end, she turned away from him and went to their bed.

"I'm going to try to get some sleep," she whispered, getting in beneath the blankets. "Turn your light off whenever you decide to go to bed."

Sighing, Derek nodded and went to kiss the top of her head. "I'll be back soon," he whispered. "I'm going to make sure I have no calls to get back to." She didn't say anything, and he left the room. Going downstairs, he plopped himself down on the couch and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Only one text awaited him, and it wasn't from work.

It was from JJ saying, _I'm sorry for not calling on Logan's birthday. Tell him Liv, Henry, and I love him. And Fin and Elliot say it, too._

Three years had passed since the BAU had last seen Jennifer Jareau and Olivia Benson. Their absence in her life weighed heavily on Penelope, and immediately Derek knew why his wife's mood the last few days left her miserable.

In addition to marking three years in a row since they'd seen JJ, it also had been three years in a row JJ forgot Logan, her godson's, birthday.

Sighing, Derek leaned his head back against the cushions of the sofa. He needed to get JJ to come and see Penelope. His wife thought of him as her best friend, but he knew there were some things she needed JJ for. While she bonded with Kate Callahan, their most recent addition to their team, when she arrived at Quantico, that bond didn't equate to the one she once had with JJ.

As Derek sat in his world of thought, Logan's corgi, Tyrion trotted up to him and hopped on the couch with him. The dog rested his head on Derek's thigh and stared up at him with wide eyes.

"I still can't believe she talked Logan into naming you that weird ass name," he mumbled, referring to when Penelope went through her _Game of Thrones _phase two years ago and convinced their then three-year old to name their dog after her favorite character. He rubbed the dog's lopsided ears.

Not able to think of anything better to say, he rose to his feet and patted the dog's head once more before trudging off to bed. The only thought in his head as he climbed the stairs was how to help Penelope.

He just didn't know how.

XXXXX

_**The Unknown Subject**_

"Why are you doing this?" the first man cried as his hands were tied behind his back by his attacker. "Who are you?"

Ripping a piece of duct tape from his large roll of it, the Attacker rolled his eyes behind his faceless white mask. "It's always the same boring questions," he muttered. "Who are you? What do you want?" He gave a dark chuckle. "Just once I wish someone would ask something different. My mother was an English teacher, and she taught me to use language colorfully. Your questions? Not so colorful."

Without another word, he yanked the duct tape from the roll and slapped it onto the first man's face. He stepped back and observed his handiwork. The husbands lay on the hardwood floor of their Manhattan townhouse, both of them in nothing but their underwear; their hands and feet were bound with cable ties. Both pairs of eyes flicked wildly around the room.

Their fear sent a rush of excitement up the Attacker's spine.

Going to his kit, the attacker pulled out a severe iron pipe. He turned around, patting the pipe against his gloved hand. He whistled a chipper tune and circled around both men.

"Who to take care of first?" he asked aloud, his voice echoing off the walls of the room. He scrutinized each man, and in the end decided to go with the weaker, skinnier of the two victims. "I think I'll start with you."

The man on the ground struggled in his bonds, tears streaming down his face. His voice couldn't make it past the tape, and all that could be heard was the sound of his panicked grunts.

"Stay still," the Attacker said, his voice lowering so it sounded almost like a mother coaxing a scared child. "It'll hurt less if you don't struggle."

Then he raised his iron pipe to strike, the next sound filling the room becoming the cracking of bone.


	2. A Fresh Set of Eyes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Sorry this is coming so late. I appreciate the patience. Thank you as well for the reviews. I hope this story is as enjoyable as "The Violator" for you all :) I'm excited to be revisiting this storyline, and I hope you are, too.**

**_JJ_**

"Why is Mom so sad, Liv?"

Henry's question to Olivia as JJ started down the hall of their apartment halted her in her steps. Her heart started to feel sore in her chest. She sighed heavily, and rubbed her forehead.

Just yesterday she and Olivia had gone to their third adoption agency to check their luck at getting a shot at adopting. This time went no differently for them. No work calls had hindered their meeting time with the head of the adoption agency, but JJ and Olivia's work schedules and the nature of their jobs were the biggest problems.

_I'm sorry to tell you this, ladies, _Susan at the adoption agency had told them, _but with schedules like yours — not to mention the violent nature of your jobs — we don't feel adoption is a good idea for you now._

It crushed JJ as if a thousand pounds of snow were dropped on her. She had wanted to scream at the woman that she and Olivia were great parents to Henry, that they had a well-adjusted child already. But the woman already knew that.

For some reason it didn't matter to the adoption agency, though.

"Mom's just sad because the adoption agency we went to yesterday said no again," Olivia admitted. She and JJ had agreed ahead of time they weren't going to tell Henry about the failed adoption the day after it happened to keep salt from pouring into the wound even more. Right now she was glad Olivia had handled telling him; she didn't know if she could without breaking down into frustrated tears.

When she got to the kitchen, she found Henry and Olivia putting their dishes into the sink. She plastered a smile on her face and kissed the top of her son's head. "Hey, you," she murmured

Henry gazed up at her, but he didn't have far to look. At twelve years old, Henry already stood tall at JJ's shoulder. A sad gleam entered his eyes. JJ knew he was feeling sorry for her. She saw the pity in his eyes. She met Olivia's gaze, finding the same sorrow Henry had in her dark amber eyes.

"You ready for school?" JJ asked, looking back at Henry. She ruffled his hair.

Henry nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Liv said you guys have a case to get to, though…so we gotta get going."

JJ looked up at Olivia again, cocking her head to the side. She rarely accompanied Olivia to work unless they needed a profiler, either herself or George Huang. This must have been a serious one.

The look her wife returned her told her it was.

Looking back down at Henry, JJ kissed his forehead and nodded. "Alright," she murmured. "Let's get you to school."

XXXXX

"So he killed again?" JJ murmured as she and Olivia made their way through the throngs of people crowded around the crime scene tape that blocked off the entrance to a modest Manhattan townhouse. She kept an eye on the crowd, searching for any signs of people too invested in the scene. She didn't know much about this unsub, and whether he would be watching the scenes to observe his work; she just wanted to take precautions.

Olivia nodded as they trotted up the stairs of the home. "Yeah," she said. She pulled her badge out and showed it to the uniform at the door. Pointing to JJ, she explained who they were and were waved in by him. As they walked down the hall, she added to JJ, "This makes it murder number three. Victims' names are Troy Holden and Justin Isaacs. Their children's names are Julianne and Alexandria."

"What has Warner ruled?" JJ asked.

"Too early to tell with these two, but the kids had injection points in their hairlines," Olivia explained.

JJ froze. The children. How could she forget that this unsub not only killed the men, but also their children? It was one detail the press certainly had access to, and JJ had heard all about them.

The first victims — John Hanson and Julio Gonzalez — had one child named Jared, killed at age six. Trent Barrows and Kyle Johnson's little daughter, Mara was only three. The manner of how the children got killed told JJ they weren't the object of the unsub's hatred. He made a habit of keeping the children from the same deaths their fathers endured.

It was a good thing, too; the couples' received some of the worst torture JJ had ever witnessed.

"Liv, JJ," a voice called from the hall.

JJ turned to see Elliot Stabler coming from a smaller hallway. "Stabler," she said. "What do we have?"

Stabler's face was grim. "They're in the living room," he said. "Everything is the same as the other kills."

"Torture and everything?" Olivia asked.

Elliot stopped them right before they entered the living room. "Getting worse if you'd ask me," he said.

Preparing herself for what was to come, JJ nodded and accepted one of the pairs of rubber gloves Stabler handed to her and Olivia. She slid them on and entered the living room where she found Dr. Melinda Warner examining one of two bodies.

Each man had his ankles and wrists bound together with cable ties. Duct tape covered their mouths. Bruises and blood decorated their bodies. One of the victims, Troy Holden, lay on his stomach, and a gunshot wound was visible on the back of his head.

JJ had seen some horrific crimes in her career as a profiler, but this unsub slowly but surely was edging himself into her list of worst ever.

Dr. Warner looked up at JJ as she entered the room. The medical examiner nodded to her. "Agent Jareau," she said. "I see they decided to bring a profiler in on this. Smart choice." When Stabler and Olivia joined them, she nodded to them as well.

"Hello, Melinda," JJ said. "What's the prognosis so far on the victims?"

"Severe torture wounds, just like the others," Warner said. "Abrasions, internal bleeding. I can't confirm it until I do the autopsies, but the torn underwear and blood suggests they were sodomized with a pipe…just like the others."

Elliot knelt down next to the bodies to observe them. "Cause of death?" he asked.

"Gunshot wound execution style to the back of the head," Warner said. "Again, just like the others."

JJ shook her head, looking away from the bodies to observe the room. Nothing was out of place, save for the hardwood floors being drenched in blood and the bodies of the dead men.

"He's very organized," JJ murmured, surveying the room. She walked through the room, trying to see every detail. Turning her attention back to the dead bodies, she went on. "Sadist, relishes in the torture of his victims."

Stabler arched a brow at her. "Is he getting off on this?" he asked.

"No," she said, returning to the bodies. "I don't think so. The amount of overkill here suggests rage and hatred. He's severely homophobic. That much we know from his victimology. Nothing overtly biblical about his MO, so I'd say he's not on a religious mission. He kills the children, but does it so they don't suffer." She shook her head, wracking her brain. "How does he find his victims, though?" She said the last part aloud to herself.

Olivia answered her anyway. "We have no idea," she said. "We're still looking for connections between the victims, but haven't found any other than they're gay men with families. They've never had contact with one another as far as we can tell, and there's no forensic evidence at any of the crime scenes."

"This is the third one of these murders," Elliot said. "What the hell do we do to catch this guy? We can't let this get to a fourth."

JJ was silent for a moment. "I…I need Huang," she finally said. "We'll need to go over this together. I need another set of eyes to give you guys an accurate profile."

"No," Olivia said. "You need more than another set of eyes. You need several sets."

Turning her gaze to her wife, JJ frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"She's saying you've got to call in reinforcements," Elliot said, rising from his kneeling position.

Olivia nodded at JJ, whose brow had lifted in an arch. "That's exactly what I'm saying," she confirmed. "We need to call the BAU."


	3. Anxieties

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Sorry about the tardiness on releasing this chapter. I've been busy with my other stories. I hope you'll enjoy it!**

_**Penelope**_

"You remember to listen to everything the teacher tells you," Penelope murmured to her son. She moved a lock of hair from his eyes and smiled. Tears swam in her eyes as she stood amongst the stream of other parents sending their kids into kindergarten for their first day of school. Derek stood behind her as she leaned down to speak to Logan. "You have your lunchbox?"

Logan grinned, his dimples becoming more prominent. He lifted his arm to show her his _Avengers_ lunchbox in his grasp. "Got it!" he said.

Derek grinned at his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kick some ass today, champ."

Pursing her lips, Penelope glanced up at her husband. "Knock it off!" she muttered. She returned her attention to Logan and resumed her grinning. "I love you, honey. Have a good day. I'll pick you up outside of school as soon as it's over."

"Can you have Tyrion in the car with you?" Logan asked, using puppy dog eyes to ask for the dog to be brought to him.

"I can't do that today, buddy," she said, kissing his forehead, "but you'll see him when you get home. I'm gonna work from home tonight so I can be there and make dinner with you, okay?"

Logan nodded and wrapped his arms around his mother. "Okay, Mama," he said in Penelope's ear. "I love you."

As Penelope straightened up, resting her hands on her protruding belly, the teacher for Logan's class signaled for all the students to line up. Before Logan turned to dash off, Penelope blew him a kiss and blinked tears from her eyes. "I love you," she said again.

Her son grinned, waving once before turning and joining the rest of his classmates in line. Penelope watched, forcing herself not to cry.

Derek laid a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay, Baby Girl," he said, massaging her back.

Biting her lip, Penelope shook off Derek's grasp and back toward his SUV. She was still annoyed with him after their conversation the previous night. Behind her, she heard him sigh. Her husband could not understand the feelings she was experiencing, and she was not about to use their son's first day of school as a platform for enlightening him. She got in the passenger seat and started buckling herself in. Derek got into the driver's side, a gruff expression settling on his face.

"Are you going to be alright tonight?" he asked as he pulled out of the school lot. "Because I can call Anderson to –"

Penelope rolled her eyes. She focused her eyes on the street as they started to merge onto the highway to drive to the BAU. "I don't need a babysitter," she mumbled.

"Baby, I wasn't saying you need a babysitter," Derek tried assuring her.

Biting her lip, Penelope rubbed her temples. She cursed her raging hormones and depression. Lashing out at Derek made her furious with herself. She never wanted to be this way with him, but some part of her just could not control the raging PTSD from overtaking her personality.

"I just don't want you stressing out with the baby, and with it being Logan's first day of school, I know you're a bit tense," he went on.

"Oh, enough!" she snapped. "I'm not stressing anymore than I would be if this weren't Logan's first day."

Derek's jaw locked when she glanced over at him. "Stop treating me like I'm bullying you," he growled, switching lanes. "I'm trying to help you and be supportive while you deal with whatever _this _is. You're acting like I'm your enemy."

"You can't help me with this, Derek," she hissed. "You don't understand what I'm going through, so stop trying!"

"No, I could understand if you would just let me in!" he retorted, getting off at the exit to the BAU.

Penelope did not respond. The two of them remained silent the entire rest of the way to work, neither of them even making a sound. They let the anger stew between them, and as they stepped off the elevator to go to the bullpen, their tension was immediately recognized.

Kate Callahan opened the door of the bullpen and followed after Penelope as she and Derek parted ways without so much as an acknowledging kiss on the cheek.

"Garcia? Garcia, is everything okay?" she asked.

"Fine, why do you ask?" Penelope asked dryly.

Callahan arched a brow. "Umm, well how about the fact that you and your husband dear barely made eye contact as you walked in?" She chuckled. "I _am_ married. I know a thing or two about husband and wife behavior."

Unlocking the door to her office, Penelope rolled her eyes yet again. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it, Kate," she muttered. "Let's just get to the bullpen so we can get started on this case." As she started to remove her jacket, she felt her friend's eyes following her. "Kate, what?"

Kate held her hands up in surrender. "I'm just wondering what's going on with you lately. You're missing your usual sparkle. You have been for the last few weeks, and it's making me sad. You're the happiest person I know, and seeing you like this is weird."

Penelope grabbed her tablet. She stopped abruptly and rubbed her face. "I know you're just trying to help, but I'm really not in the mood to talk right now," she murmured. Thinking back on her arguments with Derek in the past twenty four hours and the fact her son was growing up made her heart start to droop. She hated arguing with Derek, and she knew he was trying to help. She also hated him treating her like a victim, and that was what this felt like.

"Alright," Kate responded. "Just don't shut Derek out because of this. He loves you, and he 's just trying to help."

Looking down at her shaking hands, Penelope nodded. "I know," she whispered, thinking back to Derek trying to comfort her and her refusal to take that comfort. "I'm just tired, and I'm ready to find out what this case is. Hotch wouldn't tell me what it was, so he's presenting it."

Kate rubbed Penelope's shoulder. "Just talk to your man before we leave," she said. "You don't want to have to deal with fighting with him on top of everything else today."

XXXXX

"Alright, let's get started," Hotch said as everyone sat down in the round table room. Penelope took a look at Derek. He sat one seat over from her, on the other side of Rossi. He did not even shoot her a glance. She sighed. He was, of course, still pissed at her.

In many ways she did not blame him.

"Where are we headed to, Hotch?" Rossi asked.

"New York City," Hotch answered. "And we're working with some familiar faces for this one."

Penelope's spine already tingled at the mention of the city, but when Hotch spoke again, she could not suppress the sweat that started to bead on her forehead.

"Familiar faces?" Reid asked.

Hotch clicked the remote and started the reel of crime scene photos in a townhouse with two bloodied men on the floor. "We're working with Manhattan's Special Victims Unit on this one," he said. "Two couples, both gay men, have been brutally murdered in their homes in Manhattan. Both couples' children were found dead as well."

Kate swallowed hard. "Please tell me not in the same condition as their fathers," she said.

"No, they were killed by an injection," Hotch said. "They died peacefully…unlike their parents. Both men in each murder were bound, gagged, and tortured for several hours. Before gunshot wounds to the back of their heads killed them, they were also sodomized. Likely with a pipe."

Derek switched the photo on his tablet. "He's very organized," he said. "Don't suppose there are any prints of fibers."

Hotch shook his head. "No forensic evidence," he replied. "Of any kind. This one will be all about the profile. In addition to working with Captain Cragen and his detectives again, we'll be working with George Huang and JJ."

The mention of JJ's name made Penelope pinch her lips. Her former best friend and her no longer spoke, despite the fact Penelope had tried to maintain the relationship when JJ initially moved to New York. She eventually gave up trying to keep contact when it became clear JJ had moved on from her life in Quantico.

Her bitterness did not take away the soreness in her heart. Even though she was angry, Penelope still felt the anguish of losing her best friend.

"We need to get there as soon as possible," Hotch went on. "Wheels up in thirty." He turned his attention to Penelope as everyone was rising to their feet. "Garcia, I need you to start doing background checks into the victims. I want to know if there is any connection between them we're missing."

Penelope nodded shortly. "Yes, sir," she said. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Derek leaving the room, and she went to follow him. Before she could though, Hotch spoke again. She wanted to scream in frustration at her boss, but she managed to keep her tongue in check.

She jotted down everything on her notepad as he spoke. Only half her brain was listening to what he said. There were only twenty four minutes left before the jet would be taking off, and she still had to speak to Derek before he was gone. As soon as Hotch bid her goodbye, she took off toward her husband's office.

She knocked softly on the door when she reached his office door. He called out a soft "It's open!" before she entered. Glancing up from throwing something in his go-bag, his face remained neutral when their eyes met.

"Hi," she whispered, shutting the door behind herself. She wanted to do something to keep her focus off the fact her husband would be seeing JJ shortly.

Derek continued what he was doing. "What do you need, Penelope?" he asked. She went forward to his side. Placing her hand over his, she entangled their fingers. Derek stopped, heaving a heavy sigh. "I don't have time for you to bitch at me anymore before I leave. If this is –"

"This isn't anything," she mumbled. "I'm just saying goodbye before you leave." She looked up at him. He made no response, keeping his eyes averted. With a shaky breath, she added, "I'm sorry."

With another sigh, Derek cupped her face and gave her a soft kiss. "I'm just worried about you," he murmured, moving a tendril of hair behind her ear. He rested his hand on her belly.

Sniffling, she nodded. "I know," she whispered. "You just go catch the bad guy and get home." She made no mention of JJ, hoping she could avoid talking with him about her.

Derek gave her another kiss before asking, "Are you okay with this?" He had no need to elaborate on what he meant this time. She knew he was talking about JJ, just like she wished he would not have. His gaze told her he knew what was going on, but he needed to ask anyway.

"I'll…" Penelope's voice trailed off for a moment, but she shook her head. She was not going to let JJ get to her now, not when she was dealing with so much else that was stressful. Giving Derek a weak smile, she kissed him once again. "I'll be fine. Just get home safe."


End file.
